🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
While cleaning behind his coffee machine on Saturday morning, a bar manager found something cold and slippery; an enormous boa constrictor snake. As if this wasn't unusual enough, the bar is located in Rouen, France, thousands of miles from the snake's native Central and South America.
"He remained calm and he wasn't afraid [as] the snake was absolutely not aggressive," the bar owner's daughter-in-law, Cecilia Hiouni, told Newsweek. "He called the firefighters directly."
At 1:15 p.m., the local fire service arrived at the premises to remove the trespassing reptile. How it got into the bar remains a mystery.
Hiouni shared photos of the snake to the Facebook group "You know that you come from Rouen when…", asking if anyone had lost it.
Boa constrictors are a large species of snake that can grow more than 13 feet long and weigh over 100 pounds when fully grown, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo.
The snake is non-venomous and kills its prey by constriction, from which its names derives. After striking at its prey, the boa will wrap its long body around the animal, suffocating it before swallowing it whole. The species poses very little danger to humans, feeding instead on smaller animals like lizards, birds, bats, rodents and opossums.
Boas are also popular pets because of their generally calm temperament and unique scale patterns. Occasionally, pet snakes can escape or are set free when their owners can no longer care for them. This can cause problems for the snake and local wildlife. They may be susceptible to local diseases, or, conversely, spread diseases to local animals, as well as preying on them.
SOPTOM, an animal protection agency that runs an SOS snake telephone line in the south of France, says people must remain calm and not touch a snake should they encounter one.
Despite her Facebook post receiving hundreds of likes and shares, Hiouni said that no one had yet come forward to claim the boa.
Hundreds of users have commented on the post, sharing their thoughts about the incident.
"He is so beautiful. Yet another person who bought this poor beast without thinking or caring for it," said one user.
"Wow is Halloween early or what?!?" said another.
Do you have an animal or nature story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about snakes? Let us know via nature@newsweek.com.
About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more